About

I'm a product engineer and water systems researcher based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I currently work at Hyfi, building real-time flood alerting platforms and sensor data infrastructure for municipal water and stormwater operators. Before that, I spent two years as a graduate researcher at the Digital Water Lab at the University of Michigan, working with Professor Branko Kerkez on smart technology adoption in stormwater infrastructure.

Outside of work, I'm an avid amateur wildlife photographer and birder. I'm also a certified Michigan Conservation Steward and a graduate of the Michigan Naturalist Program.

Experience

Product Engineer

Hyfi

May 2023 – Present

Redesigned flood alerting and data visualization products end to end, from backend services through customer-facing applications. Built and improved web portals for live sensor and environmental data, including mapping and operational reporting for municipal water and stormwater clients. Developed automated quality-control workflows for large networks of real-time water data.

Graduate Student Research Assistant

Digital Water Lab, University of Michigan — with Professor Branko Kerkez

Aug 2021 – May 2023 · Ann Arbor, MI

Conducted in-depth interviews with stormwater operators in one of the world's largest combined sewer-stormwater systems to identify barriers to smart technology adoption. Independently architected, created, and deployed Sewer Tycoon — a full-stack web app (Flask-Socket.IO, Mapbox, JavaScript) providing a user-friendly interface for industry software SWMM, enabling operators and non-engineers to simulate the impact of regional cooperation.

Research Assistant

Deployable & Reconfigurable Structures Group, University of Michigan

May 2020 – Aug 2020

Selected for the University of Michigan Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE). Developed solutions for adding thickness to a novel self-stiffening origami dome while preserving kinematics; designed and built kinematic SolidWorks simulations and physical prototypes.

Research Assistant

Environmental Biotechnology Group, University of Michigan

Mar 2018 – Apr 2019

Developed and implemented protocols evaluating iron chloride flocculation efficacy in concentrating viruses from wastewater. Conducted plaque assays, qPCR, ddPCR, and field sample collection.

Education

M.S. Civil Engineering — Intelligent Systems

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor · Aug 2021 – May 2023

Infrastructure Optimization, Sensing, Control Systems, ML for Environmental Sciences

B.S. Civil Engineering — Sustainable Engineering

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor · Aug 2017 – May 2021

Summa Cum Laude · James B. Angell Scholar · Geisinger Scholar · Research Summer Scholar Award · Best Speaker Award, ASCE Construction Institute Student Days

Publications

Schmidt, J., Roy, A., Kerkez, B. (2024). “You can't write down the logic”: Bringing smart technology into the water infrastructure control room. ACM.

Redoutey, M., Roy, A., Filipov E. (2020). Pop-up kirigami for stiff, dome-like structures. International Journal of Solids and Structures.

Langenfeld, K., Chin, K., Roy, A., Wigginton, K., Duhaime, M. (2020). Comparison of ultrafiltration and iron chloride flocculation in the preparation of aquatic viromes from contrasting sample types. PeerJ.

Skills & tools

Python React.js Amazon Web Services Mapbox GraphQL InfluxDB SWMM / PySWMM LLM integration Time-series analysis ArcGIS GitHub n8n Claude Code Technical writing

Organizations

WEF Water Leadership Institute

Mar 2026 – Present

Selected through competitive application for an intensive leadership development program focused on the water and wastewater industries.

Michigan Naturalist Program

Apr 2026 – Present

Hybrid educational program covering Michigan's ecosystems, native flora and fauna, and wildlife conservation through field-based and experiential learning.

Michigan Conservation Stewards Program

Aug 2025 – Dec 2025 · Completed

Science-based training in ecosystem management, habitat restoration, and conservation stewardship.